Monday, January 25, 2010

Friday, January 22, 2010

Tickets were bought 8 months back. As usual it was the Airasia Zero fare promotion. Anyway, diving life is great when you have a live-in dive buddy. Plans are way easy and usually there are no cancellations.

And then about 6 months ago two friends decided to join us. That was great!!! And they are great company too. So as late as 2 weeks ago we had four in the group. And then surprise surprise.... Wanie my old buddy heard about the whole trip and wanted to follow; she had not dived for three years and during that time delivered 2 baby girls with the younger one 7 months back... Time to re-breathe compressed air,mommy!

This time around we decided to stick with Billabong Scuba. Last February trip was great though the food was a bit 'routine' and bland. That time we had cabbages daily and only cabbages for our requirement of fibre.So we came prepared, bags of tidbits and instant noodles. It has now been three days with two to go. Surprisingly dinner so far dinner has been good. Different dishes for dinner daily. I guess my complaining during our previous visit did not fall on deaf ears and the management did their best to improve the quality of the food. Looks like we are going to have the Maggi at home ;)

As for the diving it has been great. But then, when it comes to diving I never have complained as I have dived in conditions with only 3 feet visibility and still enjoy it; go figure!

Having said that, this time around Sipadan and Mabul have the worse visibility so far: 10 metres in Sipadan and about 5-6 metres in Mabul. And the water is damn chilly 26 to 27 degrees centigrade....brrrrr... I tried my best to contribute to the warming of the waters but it only work for a very brief period.

The water conditions may be attributed to the heavy rains that plagued the area just prior to our arrival. We brought sunny rays to the shores of Mabul and so far it has remained sunny.... I hope it stays that way. As for the sealife, as usual it is amazing. I will let the photos do the talking. But there are more to come.

Friday, January 15, 2010

This was taken on November 2nd at the Proton Malaysian Tennis Open. I was lucky to catch the lucky ball and won a car. The best part is meeting Verdasco (who was so gorgeous in person)and getting kissed (on the cheeks of course) by him....

Thursday, January 14, 2010

It is two weeks into 2010... looks like time would fly this year. I don't tend to make resolutions (I think they are lame excuses to 'pretend' that you are doing something new and then say you failed miserably).

However, I have decided to be more organised - mainly in keeping the home manageable. Fingers crossed I have started with re-organising both my kitchen store and my craft room. I got more storage space by purchasing heavy duty DIY racks in Segambut (at RM100 per piece). I have put everything in clear containers or tag them clearly so that I know the contents without having to open the packaging.

I have also put rules (for myself) on how to do things at home:-1. Immediate cleaning up of the mess that I make (either during cooking or crafting)2. Put back everything to its original place!!!3. Try to throw away thing I do not need (clutter, clutter, clutter)

As I am not a very disciplined person - I have my 'mandor' to supervise me... hopefully he doesn't go overboard.

The frontpage article highlighted the plights of three women who were duped by men they met on the net in having casual sex and later was dumped when they got pregnant. The three young ladies in their early 20s met their 'love' from various social networking programmes like Facebook, Myspace and Friendster.

This is not anything new. It has been happening ever since the Net got huge. I recall being one of those chatting away on mIRC and Yahoo Messenger years ago. I met enough people (men) that I come to the conclusion that Internet relationships are 'surreal' and many people LIE!

Therefore, apart from having sex-education in schools we should also have Internet Education. And it is not just women being duped but men too. Sex and money. The accessibility of the Net and the huge masses it reaches makes it a ideal media for conning people. And since 'It would never happen to me' mentality is in a lot of us - MANY people are gullible.

Internet Education may not solve the problem but at least it makes people aware of their vulnerability.

Monday, January 11, 2010

I never had so much time to myself ever since my wedding. Yup, that was 1 and 1/2 years ago. Anyway, I was given 2 weeks off and I have no plan or anywhere to go. Ah... HEAVEN. First on my agenda was organising. I am 'trying' to remove as much clutter in the house, people like me like to collect junk and are scared to throw anything away hence the 'clutter'. So far I have organised the kitchen and store and also my craft room aka my 2nd storage room.

In between I managed to squeeze in a few craft projects. So many free tutorials online that I would go cookoo looking just looking at them. But projects are easier when you have someone in mind to give them to. So walla.....

Baby boy blankie, made for a new addition to the family. My bro in law 2nd child born on 22 Dec.The inner part I used a striped cotton material (that cost RM3.20 per meter at Nagoya

This is a project which is ongoing. My bag prototype made by copying the bag I bought from Siam Reap 2 years back. Still not happy with the lining I made and the stitching is a bit shoddy..... This is supposedly for my friend in Singapore but do not know when it will be ready :(

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

The past week I have been busy utilising my sewing machine. It is not a new year resolution to sew more but I was inspired by the arrival of my friend's baby two days before Christmas.

I suck at buying gifts for newborns plus always thought that stuff I buy may become redundant (1001 uncles and aunties are sure to buy the same things). And as I browse through the Net for ideas I see loads of handmade baby presents.

And so, I made a blankie (hope they liked it as it is my first attempt) and a pair of booties (got the instructions and templated from here)